Question new to bk

[Thinkingofbk]

I have been considering of going bk but i am nnot so sure where to look. I have been reading in the forums and i would like to know what questions the attorney will be asking me. What papers do i need and what will they ask? I have a title loan from a loan compay and unsecured personal loans. I am worried because they went to collections i also have cc's went to collections. I am worried now and need to know what i should do. Any advice? Thanks

[LadyInTheRed]

Different attorneys will want different information for an initial consultation. They will tell you exactly what you should bring. Be ready to provide information on all of your debts, significant assets, income from the last 6 months and living expenses. Before I went on consultations, I created a spreadsheet that listed the balances of all my debts, minimum payments, monthly expenses, car and home values and gross income and all deductions from my paychecks for the prior 6 months. I emailed it to attorneys before my appointment. It made consultations very productive, but the information was probably more detailed than required for a consultation. Attorneys probably won't want many documents for a consultation. You will provide documents to the attorney you actually hire. Those documents will include your last 6 months in pay stubs, copies of loan documents and debt and bank statements and deeds to real estate and pink slips for cars.

My best advice is to make appointments with a couple of attorneys and ask them what to bring.

If you would like some more specific help here, some info that will be helpful is: What is your current gross annual income? What state do you live in? What is your household size? Do you have secured debt? If so, what is the value of the property and balance of the debt? Are you current on your secured debt payments? If not, do you want to keep the assets securing the debt or give them up? What exactly are you worried about at this point?

[Thinkingofbk]

I live in the CA. My title loan is through a unsecured title loan its the only payment i have kept current. I have irs debt and i took out multiple unsecured personal loans online and its all gone through collection. I have regret doing those things. I am worried because my car is the only asset i have. I need to keep it for transportation. I want to start over fresh. I have cc debt of 15k and 9k in title loan. Do you recommend any affordable attorney. I dont have property either.

[LadyInTheRed]

Thinkingofbk, I have revised your post to make it readable. Please use punctuation when posting so we don't have to work to understand your questions.

I suggest you do a lot more reading about how BK works.

Most people do not lose any assets when they file BK, especially in California where there is a large wildcard exemption. Unless you have a luxury car, if it is your only significant asset, keeping it car should not be a problem.

You should not bargain shop for an attorney. Try searching for an attorney at http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Mem.../FindLegalHelp Click the "advanced search" link to search for bankruptcy attorneys in your area. You can use the referral service for a low cost consultation, but most bankruptcy attorneys give free consultations. If you really can't afford an attorney, click the link under "LegalServices". But, if you can't afford an attorney when not making payments on your unsecured debt, you may want to consider resolving your income problems before filing BK.

It is against forum rules to recommend attorneys in the public forums and you don't have enough posts to receive PMs. After you have posted more, if you still need a referral for an attorney, start a new thread and include what county you live in.

[Thinkingofbk]

Thank you for the advice. When they are asking for 6 months of statements are they bank statements or your check stubs they want?

[LadyInTheRed]

You will definitely need to provide 6 months of pay stubs to the attorney you hire (but not necessarily for consultations) because that is needed to complete the means test. My attorney only asked for the bank statement for the month in which I filed. Some attorneys ask for more.

What you need to bring to a consultation will be very different from what you will need to provide to the attorney you retain.

[Thinkingofbk]

I have met with the attorney and he told me if i want to surrender the car i can but i need to keep the car for work. The loans i took out can be in chapter 7 along with the cc debt but the irs tax debt can not be in chapter 7. I will still have to pay the title loan to keep the car and the irs tax debt is it worth it to file under chapter 7 and start fresh when i will still owe? I will have some breathing room at least if i file chapter 7 for the cc debt and personal loans

[iduuno]

There's a loan program called 722 Redemption to help you get a newer car, low mileage car. Supposedly.

I've only read about it. Maybe others will know how it works and if it's a good program or not.

That might be a question for you to ask in Consultations. ;)

[bcohen]

With a $9k title loan, I'd surrender the car unless it's worth WAY MORE than that. You can buy a decent used car for less than $3k. A good, running beater for even less. Title loans carry such outlandish interest, despite having very little risk for the lender, and are designed to be almost impossible to pay off.